By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-10-26 21:16:24 | Word Count: 579
Some Coloradans will pay as much as 140 percent more for insurance premiums under health reform plans being considered by Congress, according to an analysis released Friday by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado, the state's largest private insurer.
Supporters of Democratic reform efforts in Washington were quick to refute the report -- one of several being issued by the insurance industry over the past week.
[ advertisement ]
Conducted by actuaries for Anthem, the study concluded more Coloradans will see their rates rise than go down.
Premiums for small businesses that offer health insurance in the state would rise by as much as 36 percent if reform proposals are approved, Anthem indicated.
According to the study, young, healthy Colorado men would see monthly premiums for individual insurance policies go up from $90 a month to $216 a month.
Health care reform proposals currently being considered by the House and Senate require insurers to offer coverage to anyone regardless of pre-existing conditions. But in an effort to widen the risk pool and make coverage affordable, the proposals also contain provisions requiring Americans to purchase health insurance or face penalties.
John Martie, president and CEO of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado, said the reform proposals will drive up insurance rates if the penalties are substantially lower than the cost of premiums.
An Anthem spokeswoman noted the study was prepared by actuaries from the insurer and kept into account proposed government subsidies to help people afford help insurance coverage.
But Dede de Percin, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, a consumer advocacy group that represents activist groups and labor unions, dismissed the study as "misleading and designed to scare Coloradans into accepting the status quo."
"The study also wrongly assumes that the vast majority of people who are now uninsured are less healthy than the insured," de Percin said. "There is strong evidence to the contrary as many young people decide not to get insurance precisely because they are healthy. The reason we want to bring them into the marketplace is because they are healthy and will help to spread the risk."
Ralph Pollock, executive director of the Business Health Forum, said Anthem's report is a call for reform advocates to work harder.
Pollock said weak mandates are only part of the problem with the current reform proposals. He also called for stronger subsidies and measures to control the cost of health care.
"As we work through the reform process it is evident that money needs to be taken out of the system -- period," Pollock said. "That's going to take sacrifice on all parts: insurers, health providers and consumers. Individuals and employers must stop accepting health care and coverage prices at face value and demand health providers and insurers bring down costs in the system."
President Barack Obama has indicated he would like to sign a health care reform package before the end of the year.
